Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them, this site earns a small commission at no extra cost. Editorial recommendations are never influenced by affiliate rates.
Pricing at a glance
ClickUp:
- Free: unlimited users, unlimited tasks, 60MB storage
- Unlimited: USD $7/user/month billed annually (~NZD $11.40/user/month)
- Business: USD $12/user/month billed annually (~NZD $19.50/user/month)
- Enterprise: custom pricing
Asana:
- Personal: free, up to 10 users, basic task management only
- Starter: USD $10.99/user/month billed annually (~NZD $17.90/user/month)
- Advanced: USD $24.99/user/month billed annually (~NZD $40.70/user/month)
- Enterprise: custom
For a 5-person team, ClickUp Unlimited runs USD $420/year (~NZD $685). Asana Starter runs USD $659/year (~NZD $1,075). That's a USD $239/year difference, or roughly NZD $390. Not a trivial amount for a small agency, but not the whole story either.
Prices confirmed May 2026 from ClickUp and Asana pricing pages. Both exclude GST for NZ accounts; check your invoices as NZ GST may be applied at checkout.
Where ClickUp wins for agencies
Feature density on lower tiers. ClickUp's free plan includes whiteboards, docs, time tracking, and unlimited tasks. Asana's free plan gives you basic task lists and nothing else. For a lean agency that doesn't want to pay immediately, ClickUp is the more usable free tool.
Built-in time tracking. Both tools technically support time tracking, but ClickUp's is native and usable without a third-party integration. On Asana, time tracking requires a paid add-on or a tool like Toggl. For agencies billing by the hour, ClickUp's built-in tracking saves another subscription fee.
Flexibility across views. ClickUp offers list, board, calendar, Gantt, mind map, and table views on all paid plans. Asana's timeline (Gantt) view requires Starter tier. ClickUp's view flexibility makes it easier to adapt to different clients or project types without upgrading.
The "everything app" pitch. ClickUp genuinely tries to replace Notion, Slack threads, and a spreadsheet in one workspace. For agencies that want to centralise everything, that's attractive. For agencies that already have strong tooling and just need a project manager, it's overkill.
Affiliate note: ClickUp offers a 20% recurring commission affiliate programme. If you're recommending tools to clients, that's worth knowing.
Where Asana wins for agencies
Cleaner, faster UX. ClickUp's power comes at a cost: the interface is dense. New team members take longer to onboard. Asana's interface is more opinionated and stripped back, which means less time explaining where things live. For agencies with high staff turnover or freelancers rotating in and out, Asana's onboarding overhead is lower.
Automation on Starter. Asana's Starter plan includes workflow automation (rules-based triggers: "when task is marked complete, move to this section"). ClickUp's automation is available on Business tier, not Unlimited. If you want automated handoffs between team members, Asana's Starter vs ClickUp Business is a closer comparison.
Stronger native reporting. Asana's reporting dashboards on Starter are better structured for client-facing work. You can pull "all tasks completed this sprint by assignee" without building a custom view first. ClickUp can do more, but you spend more time configuring it.
Portfolio view on Advanced. Asana's Advanced plan includes portfolio management: a single view of all your client projects with status, progress, and workload. For agencies managing 10+ clients, that's genuinely useful. ClickUp has a portfolio equivalent on Business, so this advantage narrows on higher tiers.
Better client communication integrations. Asana integrates directly with Slack, Teams, Gmail, and Google Drive on all paid plans. The integrations are tighter and more reliable than ClickUp's equivalents. If clients live in their inboxes and you need to keep them posted without adding them to your workspace, Asana's outbound communication is smoother.
Head-to-head on what agencies actually need
Task management: Both are excellent. ClickUp is more customisable. Asana is cleaner. Tie.
Timeline / Gantt charts: Both available on paid plans. ClickUp on Unlimited; Asana on Starter. ClickUp wins on price per feature here.
Time tracking: ClickUp wins. Native time tracking at all paid tiers.
Automation: Asana wins on Starter. ClickUp requires Business for full automation.
Client-facing UX: Asana wins. Cleaner views, better for sharing progress with non-technical clients.
Onboarding speed: Asana wins. Faster to get a 5-person team productive.
Feature depth: ClickUp wins. More views, more options, steeper learning curve.
Price: ClickUp wins. Meaningfully cheaper per user on comparable tiers.
Which NZ agencies should pick which
Pick ClickUp if:
- Budget is a real constraint and you want the most tool per dollar
- You do hourly billing and need native time tracking
- Your team is technical and enjoys configuring their own workflows
- You want to replace 2-3 other tools (Notion, a spreadsheet, a basic wiki) with one workspace
You can start ClickUp at clickup.com. The Unlimited plan at USD $7/user/month is the right entry point for most agencies.
Pick Asana if:
- You have fast-rotating freelancers or part-time contractors who need to get up to speed in under an hour
- Clients are involved in project views and need a clean, simple interface
- You need strong automation on your entry-level plan
- You're already deep in Google Workspace or Slack and want tight integration
Asana's Starter plan at USD $10.99/user/month is the right entry point. The free Personal plan hits its ceiling fast for team use.
What about Monday.com or Notion?
A few NZ agencies use Monday.com instead. It sits above both on price (starting around USD $9-12/user/month on Basic) and offers strong visual project tracking. If you're a client-services agency doing retainer work with regular status meetings, Monday.com's dashboards are worth the extra cost. We'll cover that comparison separately.
Notion is a different category: it's a wiki and doc tool with basic database functionality. It can approximate project management, but it's not built for team task tracking at scale. If you're using Notion as your PM tool and hitting friction, either ClickUp or Asana will solve more problems.
Final call
For most 3-10 person NZ agencies: start with ClickUp Unlimited. The price difference is real, the time tracking is built in, and the free plan lets you trial it properly before committing. If onboarding new staff is a recurring friction point, switch the comparison and trial Asana's Starter instead.
For agencies already using Asana: unless cost is actively painful, don't migrate. Switching PM tools loses more time than the savings justify for most teams.
Both tools offer free trials. Run your actual current projects through each for two weeks, not a demo workflow, and see which one your team actually uses.